April 1, 1908.] TliE TKOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
through a whole night. But there is 
no doubt that this plant does keep away 
mosquitoes to a certain extent. The mere 
fact of the plant growing in a bed room 
will not, I am afraid, keep away the insects. 
The leaves have to be bruised between the 
bands and placed under the bed and 
scattered about the room. The other variety 
is called Tala and is used by the villagers 
here for chewing when the betel leaf is not 
procurable,— Yours faithfully, 
A. D. 
GROWTH OF RUBBER I.N MATALE 
DISTRICT. 
Colombo, March 4. 
Dear Sik, — The following information re 
the growth of Castilloa Rubber on the 
Ambanganga Estate in the Matale District 
may be of interest and merit inclusion 
in your next issue of the Tropical Agri- 
culturist : — 
Height. Girth, ' Height. Girth. 
I It If t II n 
No. 1 
19'3 
23 
No. 8 
16-6 
23 
2 
21-11 
25 
16-8 
24 
, 3 
187 
26i 
„ w 
12-9 
24 
>. 4 
23- 
24 . 
„ 11 
14- 
23i 
„ 5 
21-4 
26 ' 
12 
15-3 
22 
6 
18-7 
25 
„ 13 
18-3 
23 
„ 7 
lB-3 
All the above are in a clearing planted in 
November-Deoember, 1900, and so 2J years 
old only. Can the Straits beat this It is 
interesting to compare these measurements 
with those of the same clearing published by 
you some six months ago, where tlie average 
girth was 16 inches only and average height 
12i;3:eiet only.— Yours faithfully, 
W. E. OILDEA. 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
March 12. 
Dear Sib— What a convenience it ia to 
hare all the Directors' Reperts of Ceylon 
Companies given in the T, A. They are so 
handy for reference that I, for one, much 
appreciate your monthly on this score alone. 
All the London and Ceylon Tea Sales is 
another easy bit of reference for our estates. 
—Truly yours, 
TEA-BUSH. 
THE FEDERAL MALAY STATES. 
Resident General's office, Selangor, Malay 
Peninsula, 2lst February 1903. 
The Editor " Ceylon Observer" and " Tropieal 
Agriculturist," Colombo. 
Sib,— In reply to your letter of the 5th 
fnstant, I am directed by the Resident- 
General to furnish you with the following 
information :— 
FEDERATKP MALAY STATES. 
Revenue. Expenditure. 
Actual 1001 $17,5il,507-23 $17,273,15S'o7. 
„ |19J2 Returns not yet completed. 
Btitimated 1003 ii!18,377.421'00 $18,o61,-U35-00 
(Inclusive of Expenditure on Capital Ac- 
count $3,038,868), — 1 have the honour to be, 
Sir, your obedient servant, 
OLIVER MARKS. 
Acting Secretary to Resident-General, 
Federated Malay States. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Bananas. —Messrs. Elders and Fyffes infoini as 
that, in round figures, the consumption ot Bananas 
during the past two year.s — i.e., since Mr Cham- 
berlain's effort to aid Jamaica— has risen from 1^ 
million to million bunches per annum, which 
speaks eloquently for the growing popularity of 
this fruit. — Gardeners' dironide, Feb. 14. 
Blue Hydrangeas.— It appears from a com- 
munieation of M Andre to the Revue Horticole, 
that a certain soil near Augers, consisting of 
sand and humus, is made use of for the production 
of blue Hydrangeas with more or less success. The 
soil has been analysed and found to be chiefly 
silioious in its nature, but very rich in humus 
and organic matter including nitrogen and with a 
fair proportion of phosphoric acid and iron. 
Potash and lime are in very s-mall proportions, so 
that it is recommended to grow the plants iu soil 
destitute of limt.— Gardeners' Clu-oniclc, Feb, 14, 
Agave Americana.— I was much interested 
with the supplementary illustration in the Gar- 
deners' Chronicle, January 31, and the article on 
the Agave in Britain. I have observed some good 
specimens of the Agave iu the Scilly Isles, but I 
was of the opinion they were much too tender for 
planting out near London. There are two fair 
specimens planted in a garden near Farnham 
Station, which up to the present look well, 
although 17° of frost have been experienced. 1 
shall note their appearance later on, for if they 
survive I shall try them in different positions in the 
gardens here. — IF J P, gr, Frenshav) larnham. 
Tea Growing in America.— Some parts 
of America are still unrler the delusion that 
theirs is a tea growing country. The pro- 
fessional te.T, taster who said that teas of 
Yankee origin were superior in bouquet and 
flavour to the finest Assams must have 
been fond of a joke ! This is the latest 
from the Galveston Neivs : — 
Couannissioner of Agriculture LeDuc, who intro- 
duced the ensilo and sorgo, or, as they prefer term- 
ing it, sorghum cane, once experimented with tea 
in South Carolina. The cash sunk in that enter- 
prise ^ould have floated a daily, but the tea 
materialised. We once tried to introduce the 
yerba tea of the chappaial into London ; we were 
running a rural weekly in the Parish of Sc. 
Pancras at the time and the sanctum was a sorb 
of Texas museum — jerked buffalo, chile, gum, 
cochineal, ititle, madder and cotton. We intro- 
duced it secretly among the samples of a protes- 
sional tea taster, and awaited a verdict. He said 
afterwards that the bouquet and davor was 
superior to the finest xVssam tj8,as, but its Yankee 
origin would condemn it. Its Yankee origin 
condemned it abroad and its Texas origin con- 
demned it at home. It reminds us of the early 
reception of the American book and American 
wine. Some day wc will all become more leason- 
ffble, if not patriotic, and instead of looking 
towards Battle Creek, Mich., for the correoC 
thing in d.iily sustenance we will live like plain 
folk at home. 
